Words Left Unsaid
by TUMe
Summary: What was he? A 5-years-old? Could he be a little mature about this? He didn't need to sulk just because Naruto forgot about his birthday, right? Did he really want a present that badly? Fine, Naruto would get him a present. SasuNaru


Edited by the awesome Obscure Omen. (Thank youuuuuuuuuuu!)

Disclaimer: Characters belong to someone else. The plot is mine.

A SasuNaru story, yet again.

**Title: Words Left Unsaid**

Okay, so what if he forgot about it? He was not some kind of robot or machine that remembered every single detail of his life. And—and it was not like it happened regularly enough for him to always remember it. In fact, it happened only once a year! How could someone expect him to remember a tiny little detail that only happened once a year? Who? Supposedly, no one.

Naruto sighed.

Supposedly, no one had expected him to remember, but, well, there was this one guy who did. And how did Naruto know that? Well, this one guy was being all quiet—more than usual—and refusing to look Naruto in the eyes. To make it worse, Naruto didn't realize it until the third day, which meant he was already three days late when he had finally noticed that something was wrong. That bastard should have just told him instead of being all broody like that. Geez, didn't he know communication was the key to relationships?

Naruto sighed again.

Now that bastard was almost giving him the cold shoulder. Naruto said "almost" because that bastard was still talking to him, but not as, er... warmly as before.

_Warmly, eh?_

Naruto blushed. Warmly was an understatement. The way the bastard talked to him was always loving, endearing, and sometimes very intimate ever since they got together. At times, it could be somewhat seductive, if he was in the mood. But now, just because he forgot that small little detail, he had reverted back to his cold, unemotional voice.

Naruto sighed for the third time. This had become really troublesome.

Okay, so what if he had forgotten about Sasuke's birthday? It was just a birthday, for God sakes! There was no need to be all sensitive about it! What was he? A five-year-old? Couldn't he be a little mature about this? He didn't need to sulk just because Naruto forgot about his birthday, right? Did he really want a present that badly? Fine, Naruto would get him a present. In fact, he fully intended to give Sasuke a birthday present, since the birthday present that Sasuke gave him last year was so—how should Naruto put this?—sweet.

Okay, now Naruto felt a little guilty.

Unlike him, Sasuke did remember his birthday and what he wanted and—and he went to great lengths to get it. Naruto still remembered how happy he was when Sasuke presented his gift; he gave Sasuke a hot kiss right on the spot—and that was saying something, because Naruto was not one to start an intimate gesture. Even as loud and obnoxious a boy that everyone knew him to be, he was still shy and timid regarding intimate gestures. That was why, at the ripe age of 21, he was still a virgin (even though he had been with Sasuke for two years).

But that was not the problem here. The problem was how to get Sasuke to stop sulking. Naruto had considered buying a set of expensive kunais for Sasuke, but he had the suspicion that Sasuke wouldn't appreciate it. Being the rich boy that he was, Sasuke wasn't really impressed by expensive materials—he could get them himself if he wanted; heck, that bastard could buy the whole village if he wanted to.

So buying something expensive might not be a good idea—also, Naruto didn't have much money to begin with.

Maybe he could give Sasuke something that he made himself, like a cake! Yes, that would be a good idea. Or maybe not. Sasuke didn't really like cake in general. He got sick of them because of the fan-girls who insisted on giving him home-made cakes/cookies on every special (or not-very-special) occasion—he could make an impressive mountain with them. Naruto had witnessed it himself when he saw how Sasuke's face had turned blue when looking at the boxes of cakes that he received during Valentine's Day this year; the poor guy was traumatized.

Okay, maybe cake might not be a good idea, either… and Naruto didn't know how to make a cake. He had just never learned how to make one.

So, what options did he have left? Hmmm… He supposed bringing Sasuke flowers would expose himself to the danger of being burned to crisp by Sasuke's fire jutsu. Flowers were for girls, and Sasuke was certainly not… _and_ he really didn't appreciate being treated like one, although he had no problem treating Naruto that way. That conceited bastard was so sure he was the dominant one in the relationship. The jerk.

Okay, now that flowers were out of the question—as well as expensive gifts and home-made cake—what could he get Sasuke?

_Think, Naruto, think. Has he ever said he needed anything? Anything that he wanted?_

Naruto tried his hardest to search his memory for anything regarding what Sasuke wanted or what he wished for.

"Damnit! I can't find anything. I'll just go ask him-dattebayo!"

909

Naruto found Sasuke at the training ground that Team 7 had always used when they were still genins. Now that they were Jounins, it almost felt nostalgic to see Sasuke practicing here by himself again. Apart from the last three days, Sasuke had never practiced alone. He always had Naruto or Kakashi as his training partner—most of the time it was Naruto—and him training alone like this showed that he was somehow angry at Naruto.

"Hey, teme. Why are you here alone? Do you want me to spar with you?"

"Hn. What are you doing here, usuratonkachi? I thought you didn't want to be with me?" Sasuke didn't look at Naruto when he said that.

_Huh? What's with the cold greeting? What's that supposed to mean? What does that mean? Did I do something wrong? Did I say something wrong?_

"Look, Sasuke. I don't know why you are so pissed off about this whole birthday thing. Okay, I'll admit it: I'm sorry I forgot your birthday, but come on! That's nothing to get angry about, is it? I'll—I'll treat you to whatever you want to eat, okay? You like onigiri, right? Let's go have them. Okay?"

Naruto grinned, trying his best to sound persuasive, but from the look of it, Sasuke didn't look persuaded at all. On the contrary, he looked, err—Naruto wasn't so sure how to describe how Sasuke's look right now, but he looked kinda angry and... sad?

Naruto looked down at his feet guiltily, finding it safer to look down than at Sasuke's larger frame in front of him. An angry Sasuke was not new; _that_ kind of Sasuke was something that Naruto could handle. But a sad Sasuke was a delicate subject, especially if the source of his unhappiness was Naruto himself—Naruto was no expert in handling _that_ kind of Sasuke.

Naruto heard a shuffling of feet, but he still refused to raise his head.

"Did you honestly forget?" Naruto looked up when he heard Sasuke speak. He wanted to answer "yes, I forgot. Can we try again next year? I promise I won't forget again," but Sasuke hadn't finished yet. "Shows how serious you are about this whole thing." _About us._

Hearing that, Naruto immediately looked straight into Sasuke's eyes; several emotions were dancing in them. Truthfully, Naruto was no good at reading someone's emotions from their eyes. But Sasuke was definitely not "someone." He was just—just Sasuke: Naruto's best friend and lover. He had learned to read Sasuke's emotions—long ago—from the way he moved and from his eyes. Oh God, his eyes. Sasuke might look like a cold, unemotional person to others, but if one looked closely enough, Sasuke was such a sensitive and emotional being. And it was mostly expressed through his eyes.

Naruto felt so lucky to be given the right to look close enough to know them—the one and only that had been given access to get close.

And what of those eyes now? They were sad, albeit full of love and—Naruto gasped at this—insecurity. Insecurity? Naruto would never have thought Sasuke would be the type of person that could feel insecure about anything, especially after he had prove himself that he was a powerful shinobi by solving the whole Uchiha-clan mess and was still alive to tell the tale. His holier-than-thou attitude also didn't make him look like he had anything that he was insecure about. So what might it be?

"Have you ever given it a thought, Naruto? Or are you doing this because you're just going with the flow? Are you afraid I'll run away again if you don't? Is that your true intention? Why don't you tell me?"

_Eh, what? What is he talking about?_

Naruto just wanted to ask straight-out, "What are you blabbing about, teme?" but he felt that was a little too insensitive to do at the moment. Sasuke was serious, and it seemed that Naruto's answers were really important to him; they would either break him or cure him. But—but what was Naruto supposed to say? He didn't understand what Sasuke had said. He must have missed the point—like he always did—and if Sasuke would just kindly repeat it one more time...

"Forget it. It's not your fault anyway. It's me being impatient. I got a little ahead of myself and got mad at you. It's just..."

"Just what, Sasuke?"

"It's just, if only you hadn't made that promise, then I would not have gotten my hopes high." At this, Sasuke smiled a little sadly. "Never mind, usuratonkachi. I'll see you tomorrow." He gave Naruto a soft kiss on the lips and headed home, alone.

Naruto watched Sasuke go, rooted to the spot. His mind was in all-out thinking mode. He desperately tried to search for the promise Sasuke had mentioned. Over the years, there were a lot of promises that he had made with Sasuke: the important ones, the not-so-important ones, the silly ones, date promises, meeting promises…

Maybe it was about that one promise. The promise about how he would try to recognize his feelings about Sasuke; the promise he made when Sasuke first confessed to him—the promise in which he said he would think over it seriously. He did. He did fulfill that promise—at least for him; he had seriously thought about it and later had recognized what it was: He loved that bastard even it took him months to come to that conclusion.

But Naruto didn't think it was that promise that Sasuke had been talking about. That promise was made a long time ago and Sasuke never pestered Naruto about that promise at all after that. So why now? Why bring up about a promise now, on his birthday? It must have been about another promise, and the only clue Naruto had about that promise was that it had something to do with Sasuke's birthday.

And, just like being struck by lightning, he remembered. The promise he made on his (Naruto's) birthday last year. He had been so happy about Sasuke's gift and kissed him passionately on the mouth. And then he remembered himself saying, "Teme, this is awesome. This is the best birthday gift ever. I promise I'll give you the most awesomest gift on your birthday too—tebba. You bet on it!"

"Are you serious, usuratonkachi? You won't back down on your word?" Sasuke had looked at Naruto skeptically, a bit hopeful yet still trying to make his voice sounded unattached.

"When have I ever done that, huh, Sasuke? Have some faith in me, man!"

"Okay, then." Sasuke looked like he was considering carefully what he was about to say next. "Can you promise to give your whole self to me on my birthday?" Sasuke's voice was determined.

Both boys' cheeks had reddened at Sasuke's request, but Sasuke had refused to back down; he wanted to hear his answer.

"Okay," Naruto had answered timidly. If that was all, it should be easy, because he did love Sasuke and just needed time to make himself comfortable with that idea and—and Sasuke's birthday was still a long time from now (at that time). Naruto had been sure that on Sasuke's next birthday he would be ready to give him his all. That bastard had been waiting for him for so long, and Naruto had never given him any answer. The time between October and July would give Naruto enough time to gather his courage and be true to Sasuke.

Naruto sighed for the nth time.

Recalling that, now he had the idea about the promise that Sasuke had mentioned earlier, and, to be honest, he had forgotten all about it. Why? Because he thought he had already given Sasuke his all. Maybe they hadn't had sex yet, but Sasuke never bothered him about that. And Naruto also thought that he had showed to Sasuke that he loved him. Really. He was in love with Sasuke, and he really, really thought he had shown him enough: He let Sasuke kiss him; they dated; they talked; and they did what lovers usually did. Sasuke would once in a while say he loved Naruto, and Naruto would reciprocate with a tender kiss to show that he loved him, too.

Though, he never said it out loud simply because it was too embarrassing.

He was so used to say "I hate that bastard!" in his early teens that it was really pretty embarrassing to say he loved him out loud now. He thought it was enough to show it with actions, but apparently it was not. Naruto guessed that was why Sasuke was so insecure; he couldn't be completely sure of Naruto's feelings for him.

_Che, that bastard. Isn't he supposed to be smart? How dare he accuse me that I'm just going with the flow? That emo-bastard! I'll show him._

_909_

On the very next day, Naruto didn't show up for their meeting,—Sasuke might have normally had entertained himself with chances of that and why he wouldn't show, but he was still sad with Naruto's absence. _He must be mad at me._

They were supposed to have an informal meeting regarding the bridge-building project this morning with the other jounins and chuunins, and Naruto's absence had been noticed by many. He was the most energetic participant in this project, yet he was not there today. People who knew about their relationship threw questioning glances at Sasuke, hoping that Sasuke would explain, but he just kept quiet. He could have just admitted that he was the reason why Naruto was not here, but what good would it do to admit that? The fact was Naruto was not here, and that really hurt.

He excused himself early and walked home. He didn't have anything to do until tonight's guard duty. He supposed he could go and find Naruto, but Sasuke figured he ought to give Naruto some space. He already pushed Naruto too much last night. That was so stupid—he was supposed to be patient. Didn't he promise himself that he'd wait as long as necessary for Naruto to love him? And hadn't things been progressing how he wanted them to be? Why did he screw up now by being so emo and insecure?

He was so stupid! But he needed confirmation. Naruto never said anything that proved he felt the same way for Sasuke, and Sasuke was getting restless of waiting and wanting. And—and when Naruto had made that promise on his birthday, Sasuke had thought he had a chance. He had thought he had finally had Naruto's love, but then, there was nothing. He was waiting with bated breath for his birthday, but Naruto had acted like there was nothing, and Sasuke was crushed. He had concluded from that that Naruto was not serious after all; he just went along with it 'cause they were best friends and he was too nice to let people down. Because of that, Sasuke became angry and somehow unintentionally ended up being cold to Naruto.

And now he was worried that Naruto would leave him for good. Sasuke couldn't have that. Even if Naruto didn't love him, he would still like to be by his side, as his best friend or whatever Naruto wanted him to be. Never mind that it would hurt like hell when Naruto would someday choose somebody else—Sasuke still needed him. He would force himself to be happy for whatever—and whomever—Naruto would choose. Sasuke had already considered this when he decided to confess to Naruto almost two years ago. He knew one of the endings could have been like this, and he was prepared for it. It was just that he had hoped that Naruto would come to love him in time. But he guessed he was wrong—Uchihas were not always right after all.

Once in his house, he started brooding. He wasn't in the mood for anything. He just stayed quiet in the goddamn-huge living room by himself and did nothing. For all he cared, he might as well stay like that for years until he could no longer feel.

_Knock, knock!_

There was someone at the door, but that didn't mean Sasuke would go and answer it like a good host should.

_Knock, knock!_ Louder this time.

Sasuke still didn't budge.

_Bang! Bang!_ The person was getting impatient.

"Teme! I know you're in there. Open this goddamn door, or, God help me, I'll break it down!"

_Naruto! Does that mean he doesn't hate me after all? _A surge of hope gave Sasuke the courage to open the door—and opening that door was the best decision Sasuke had ever made in his entire life. Sasuke was shocked. It was Naruto all right, but a Naruto with a ribbon tied around his neck in a summer yukata. He looked so—so edible!

"Are you planning to keep me standing here all day, or are you gonna ask me in?"

Not trusting himself to speak, Sasuke just open the shogi door wider to let Naruto in.

"Hmm..." "What are you coming here for" was what Sasuke tried to ask, but he didn't dare to open his mouth lest Naruto would run away!

"I came to say 'happy belated birthday,' teme." Naruto was fidgeting while he spoke.

"You did?" He knew he sounded stupid, but he had to ask.

"Hmm, yeah. And—and I—I b—brought you your gift, too." At this, Naruto's face became bright red.

"You did?" Sasuke seemed to have lost all other parts of his vocabulary.

"Y—yeah." Now even Naruto's ears were red.

Sasuke looked around. He didn't spot any gifts in sight, but if he thought what he thought Naruto's gift for him would be, "it" was in front of him… But that was just too good to be true, right?

"Hmm, where?"

Naruto raised his head to look at Sasuke and quickly looked away. He was too shy to state the obvious. The bastard should already know.

And Sasuke really did know. He let out a very, very happy smile and couldn't stop staring at the ribbon around Naruto's neck. He finally got his present (and maybe his future, too).

"Don't laugh at me, you bastard." Naruto face was still red.

"I'm not. I'm just relieved. You do love me... Right?"

"Yeah," Naruto finally said it, "how can I not?"

"But you never said anything. I thought you were—"

"You thought wrong. What with that shit about going with the flow? Do you think I would let some random guy kiss me like I let you do? Who do you think I am, Sasuke?!"

"My soul-mate," Sasuke answered with conviction.

"Huh?" Naruto didn't expect Sasuke would answer him like that.

"I thought romantic words were beyond me, but, believe it or not, you own half of my soul. Even though I'd survive, I don't think I could live as a whole without you."

Two pairs of eyes clashed and quickly looked away. This was an embarrassing and awkward moment for the both of them. Thank God they were in the confinement of the Uchiha mansion and not somewhere public. It was sweet and all, but touchy-feely emotions were never their strong points.

"Me, too, Sasuke. Me, too."

That was it. This was the happiest moment in Sasuke's life; not when he managed to kill Madara or when he was accepted back to Konoha or anything else: It was this. It should be illegal to be this happy.

And then they kissed—thoroughly kissed, tasting each other furiously at first, then slowly. They kissed, stopped for a while for air and to look at each other's eyes, and kissed again and again and again for hours. They were just kissing. Savouring each other. It started with the lips (for the longest time), and then Sasuke began to kiss Naruto's eyes, temples, nose, cheeks (both of them), jaw, and when he finally got to Naruto's neck, Naruto let out a breathy moan.

Naruto was clinging to Sasuke's neck while Sasuke's arms were around Naruto's waist. Sasuke looked down at Naruto when he heard that throaty moan, afraid that he might have hurt Naruto.

"Are you alright, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice was full of concern.

_Am I alright? You bet I'm not alright! My head's about to explode, my heart's beating so hard it's hurting, and I don't think my knees can support me any longer._

"Yeah, I'm alright."

"Maybe we should sit down."

_No, I wanna continue!_

"Okay," Naruto relented.

They sat at the settee side-by-side—holding hands—with Naruto leaning on Sasuke's shoulder. Their kissing took out a lot out of him, and the lack of sleep also made him a little tired; he was too nervous about today to sleep peacefully last night.

"So..." Sasuke was the one who break the peaceful silence.

"So?" Naruto looked at Sasuke's playful smile.

"When can I unwrap my gift?"

_Pack._ Sasuke's face was met with a solid cushion.

"Teme! You pervert!" Naruto said that in a loud voice… And then, in a softer voice: "Anytime you want."

Needless to say, those two didn't show up for their guard's duty that night.

909

The end. A one-shot that was supposed to be short and not so emo or romantic… It was _supposed_ to be a comedy, but look what it turned into!

This is for Sasuke's birthday.

Happy belated birthday, Sasuke—but you're still a dumb-ass! (I still hate you, stupid!)

I left lots of details to your imagination: What Sasuke's gift was, why Naruto didn't go the meeting, and why Sasuke thought he was pushing Naruto too much.


End file.
